Cubahttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/cuba
en-usSun, 02 Aug 2015 16:17:14 -0400Sun, 02 Aug 2015 16:17:14 -0400The latest news on Cuba from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-now-has-to-win-over-cubas-reluctant-friends-2015-7Obama now has to win over Cuba’s reluctant friendshttp://www.businessinsider.com/obama-now-has-to-win-over-cubas-reluctant-friends-2015-7
Mon, 27 Jul 2015 10:01:36 -0400Editorial Board
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55b6389f2acae76e098b8c64-873-554/screen shot 2015-07-27 at 9.58.49 am.png" alt="farc maduro" data-mce-source="Reuters/Amanda Macias/Business Insider" /></p><p>As the&nbsp;Obama administration has pursued normalization with Cuba, it has been drawn into lower-profile but thorny dialogues with two of Havana's long-standing clients: the Venezuelan government of Nicol&aacute;s Maduro and Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).</p>
<p>The diplomacy has reinforced President Obama's doctrine of engagement with U.S. adversaries; the Maduro government has repeatedly claimed that the United States is plotting its overthrow, while the FARC has been designated a terrorist organization by the State Department.</p>
<p>As in the case of Cuba, however, the results of the dialogues so far have been meager.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0c3b371d2215008b7c52-5184-3456/ap_514011235225.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" />In both instances, U.S. officials say, the initiative did not originate in Washington. Mr. Maduro, facing an economic catastrophe, reached out to what he usually calls "the imperium," while Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, a close U.S. ally, asked that an American envoy join his government's ongoing peace talks with the FARC.</p>
<p>The administration responded by naming a veteran former diplomat, Bernard Aronson, to attend the Colombian negotiations, which are held being in Havana.</p>
<p>Mr. Aronson and a senior State Department counselor, Thomas Shannon, separately visited Caracas to meet Mr. Maduro. Last month, Mr.&thinsp;Shannon went a step further, sitting down with Venezuela's national assembly president, Diosdado Cabello, even though he is the target of a U.S. criminal investigation into drug trafficking by senior Venezuelan officials.</p>
<p>Such contacts can be useful, if they do not lead to one-sided and unwarranted U.S. concessions &mdash; the result, in our view, of the administration's diplomacy with Cuba. The administration's aims with respect to the FARC and the Maduro regime are the right ones: to push the militants in Colombia to accept the steps needed to complete a peace deal that has been under negotiation for two-and-a-half years, and to induce Caracas to release political prisoners and hold fair elections to its national assembly later this year.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5529870f69bedd9571d9a3c6-6493-4614/ap521194205214.jpg" alt="Obama Castro " data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="Cuban President Raul Castro and President Barack Obama" />After Mr. Shannon's meeting with Mr. Cabello, the Maduro government announced a date for elections and released a couple of prisoners &mdash; enough for jailed opposition leader Leopoldo L&oacute;pez to end a hunger strike that had endangered his life. But the regime still holds Mr. L&oacute;pez and scores of other prisoners and has not accepted the international monitoring needed to ensure a fair vote. It appears to hope its half-measures will induce Mr.&thinsp;Obama to name a new ambassador to Venezuela and lift sanctions recently imposed on senior officials.</p>
<p>Mr. Santos's negotiations with the FARC, meanwhile, have gone backward. The insurgents broke a unilateral cease-fire in April and have since carried out a host of attacks that have infuriated Colombians; 9 out of 10 say in polls that FARC leaders should be tried for their crimes.</p>
<p>This month it announced a new cease-fire, Yet, rather than agree on a plan for transitional justice, the main sticking point in the talks, the FARC is demanding that the United States release a top leader serving a sentence in a U.S. prison. Mr. Obama's agreement to free Cuban spies held in the United States probably encouraged that bid.</p>
<p>Therein lies the problem: With one eye on Havana, the FARC and the Maduro regime appear to regard the Obama administration as a potential source of easy favors. Unless they are disabused, U.S. diplomacy is unlikely to do much good.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-now-has-to-win-over-cubas-reluctant-friends-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/song-made-using-coins-drummer-music-video-2015-7">This drummer created a whole song by only using the sound of coins</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/cuban-cigars-guide-havana-2015-7Here's the easiest way to figure out if your Cuban cigars are real or fakehttp://www.businessinsider.com/cuban-cigars-guide-havana-2015-7
Sun, 26 Jul 2015 11:04:21 -0400Graham Flanagan
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuban-cigars-guide-havana-2015-7">Click here for original story.</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuban-cigars-guide-havana-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-is-hoping-to-up-its-oil-and-gas-game-2015-7Cuba's hoping to get into the oil and gas gamehttp://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-is-hoping-to-up-its-oil-and-gas-game-2015-7
Thu, 23 Jul 2015 18:54:00 -0400Andy Tully
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55b0de10371d2210008b8d50-3035-2276/161475709.jpg" alt="cuba oil" data-mce-source="JEAN-HERVE DEILLER/AFP/Getty Images" data-mce-caption="A billboard with images of Cuban national hero Jose Marti (R) and Venezuelan Simon Bolivar is seen at the entrance of the Cienfuegos oil refinery, 250 km southeast of Havana, on February 11, 2013." /></p><p>The Cuban oil company Cubapetroleo, or Cupet, is close to a deal with Angola&rsquo;s state-run Sonangol to get Cuba&rsquo;s deepwater energy exploration program up and running three years after work was suspended because of failure to find any oil or gas.</p>
<p>A Cupet official told the British energy news service <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/News/Article?id=1073401">Argus Media</a> that the two companies expect to begin operations next year on two of four areas of the Gulf of Mexico off the Cuban coast based on an agreement between Cupet and Sonangol signed in 2010. Cuba&rsquo;s program of deepwater exploration was suspended after several foreign companies&rsquo; drilling efforts proved fruitless.</p>
<p>Those companies included Malaysia&rsquo;s Petronas, Russia&rsquo;s Gazprom Neft, Spain&rsquo;s Repsol and Venezuela&rsquo;s PdV.</p>
<p>That work had been done with a drilling rig, called Scarabeo 9, which was built in China for the Italian contractor Sapiem, a subsidiary of Eni. Less than 10 percent of the rig&rsquo;s components were built in the United States, satisfying the criteria of <a href="http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Energy-Resources/2015/07/21/Report-Cuba-may-get-oil-help-from-Angola/6591437477544/?spt=sec&amp;or=bn">Washington&rsquo;s embargo on Western companies doing business with Cuba</a>, imposed in 1962.</p>
<p>The bulk of the Cupet-Sonangol deal was closed during a series of meetings last week in the Angolan capital of Luanda during a visit by Cuban Vice President Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz, the Cupet official told Argus Media. All that is left to be decided is &ldquo;which of the blocks contracted by Sonangol will be drilled, the sourcing of a rig and the timing of the start of work,&rdquo; the official said.</p>
<p>Ruiz told Angolan state media, however, that <a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/angolaNews/idAFL5N0ZV39E20150715">production could begin as early as next year</a>. &ldquo;The first hole would be ready for production between 2016 and 2017, depending on the location of the platform,&rdquo; he said after meeting with Sonangol CEO Francisco Lemos Maria.</p>
<p>Cuba is in the process of opening up its economy to foreign investment, a process that could accelerate following the recent thaw in relations between Havana and Washington. On July 20, the two countries reopened their embassies, but the U.S. embargo remains in place for now.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55b0df912acae78b0e8b90a3-5268-3951/ap_337979707656.jpg" alt="cuba us embassy" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="A Cuban flag flies among empty flag polls near the U.S. Interests Section building, behind, in Havana, Sunday, July 19, 2015." /></p>
<p>The U.S. Geological Survey, which recently examined the potential for Cuba&rsquo;s offshore energy reserves, reported an estimated 4.6 billion barrels of crude oil and 9.8 trillion cubic feet of gas. About 75 percent of that is situated within 50 miles of Cuba&rsquo;s coast.</p>
<p>Before the embargo, U.S. companies had stakes in several Cuban oil refineries, but today such companies are showing little interest in investing in the island&rsquo;s energy industry, despite invitations from Havana, the Cupet official said.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We want to ensure all is in place for interested companies if and when the United States lifts its damaging economic embargo on our country.&rdquo;</p>
<p>It may take months if not years to reach any agreement to lift the U.S. embargo because, despite the normalization of relations between Havana and Washington, the two governments still are at odds on many issues, including whether the United States should return its naval base at Guantanamo Bay to Cuban control.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It is important we continue to fight for the lifting of the trade embargo and financial restrictions,&rdquo; Ruiz said.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-is-hoping-to-up-its-oil-and-gas-game-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/us-politicians-are-now-ignoring-the-cuban-dissidents-they-once-courted-2015-7US politicians are now ignoring the Cuban dissidents they once courtedhttp://www.businessinsider.com/us-politicians-are-now-ignoring-the-cuban-dissidents-they-once-courted-2015-7
Thu, 23 Jul 2015 07:39:50 -0400ANDREA RODRIGUEZ and PETER ORSI
<p>HAVANA (AP) &mdash; In the seven months since the U.S. and Cuba declared detente, American politicians have flooded Havana to see the sights, meet the country's new entrepreneurs and discuss the possible end of the U.S. trade embargo with leaders of the communist government.</p>
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55b0ce6b2acae7c23f8b6a5d-5120-3840/cuba dissidents_mill.jpg" alt="Cuba Dissidents" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="In this July 6, 2015 photo, the leader of a faction of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, sits inside the dissident group's headquarters, in Havana, Cuba." />Their agendas have also featured an increasingly conspicuous hole &mdash; the spot once occupied by U.S.-backed dissidents who then sat at the center of Washington's policy on Cuba.</p>
<p>According to an Associated Press count confirmed by leading dissidents, more than 20 U.S. lawmakers have come to Cuba since February without meeting with opposition groups that once were an obligatory stop for congressional delegations.</p>
<p>Advocates of President Barack Obama's outreach to Cuba say it's a more intelligent way to push for democratic reform on the island. After decades of fruitlessly trying to strengthen the government's opponents, they see diplomatic engagement as the best method for persuading Cuba it's time to open the political system and keep loosening control of the centrally planned economy.</p>
<p>That's left many dissidents feeling increasingly sidelined and abandoned as both countries celebrate milestones like Monday's opening of embassies in Havana and Washington.</p>
<p>"The only thing they want is to open up business, the embassy," said Berta Soler, leader of a faction of the Ladies in White, one of the island's best-known dissident groups. "Whenever someone high-level came from the United States before, they always made time to meet with us before getting on the plane (back home), and that's not happening."</p>
<p>Legislative staffers say Cuban officials have made clear that if Congress members meet with dissidents, they will not get access to high-ranking officials such as First Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the man expected to be the next president of Cuba who has met with U.S. politicians like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont.</p>
<p>With embassies reopened and Cuba and the U.S. formally discussing issues such as human rights, increased Internet access and opening trade, supporters of the new U.S. policy say talking with Cuban leaders is clearly the most promising way to promote reform on the island.</p>
<p>"Some (dissidents) may feel that because of the decision (to restore ties), their views are not being reflected as they would hope," said Tim Rieser, a senior adviser to Leahy who accompanied him on a trip to Cuba last month. But "the senator believes that it makes no sense to continue a policy that has failed to achieve any of its objectives. It hasn't helped the Cuban people, and it is time to try a different way."</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0b7f371d222e008b7c25-4835-3223/ap_968759859666.jpg" alt="cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>Cuban officials are highly sensitive to the issue of domestic dissidents, whom they call mercenaries and tools of a U.S.-backed policy aimed at overturning the half-century-old socialist revolution.</p>
<p>Many dissidents receive support from anti-Castro Cuban-Americans in Florida. They have been unable to generate widespread support on the island because of intense government pressure aimed at stifling popular organizing and because many ordinary Cubans believe dissidents only want to earn money, renown and visas to live in the U.S.</p>
<p>Advocates for the Obama administration's policy say recent congressional visits have aimed to take the pulse of a broader swath of society: small-time entrepreneurs who have set up shop under the economic reforms of recent years; foreign diplomats and businesspeople operating in Havana; and regular Cubans who have complaints about Internet access and other issues without calling outright for a 180-degree change of the political system.</p>
<p>Leahy was part of a U.S. delegation that met with dissidents in January, the last one to do so, and he plans to keep talking to the opposition going forward.</p>
<p>"Senator Leahy has met with and listened to dissidents, he respects them and he shares their aspirations for human rights in Cuba," Rieser said, arguing that previous U.S. policy did not help them. "By supporting engagement with Cuba, we can increase our ability to support the freedoms that they and people everywhere deserve."</p>
<p>As part of the deal to re-establish diplomatic relations, Cuba released 53 people imprisoned for months or years on what the U.S. and many rights groups called politically based charges. The subsequent warming of ties with the U.S. has also coincided with a decrease in the more common short-term detentions of political activists in Cuba, according to figures compiled by activists.</p>
<p>The non-governmental Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation says there were 2,822 politically related detentions in the first six months of 2015, less than half the 5,904 registered in the same period last year.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55b0cf4c2acae7f4028b92e6-4621-3466/cuba dissidents_mill (1).jpg" alt="Cuba Dissidents" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="In this July 2, 2015 photo, dissident Elizardo Sanchez, president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, answers question during an interview in his home in Havana, Cuba." /></p>
<p>Commission president Elizardo Sanchez says those arrested report being treated more roughly, however.</p>
<p>On a recent Sunday, a few dozen of the Ladies in White marched quietly down a main avenue in Havana, talked in a circle underneath a leafy grove of trees and then suddenly marched to an intersection where they jumped up and down and cried "Freedom!"</p>
<p>Seemingly out of nowhere, counter-protesters swarmed the group, yelling pro-government slogans and accusing them of being "worms" bent on undermining the revolution. Police swooped in, plucked the dissidents from the melee, loaded them on waiting buses and drove off.</p>
<p>The Ladies in White say their demonstrations have been broken up in this manner every Sunday for months. Recently the group has been departing from unwritten rules under which their marches were tolerated as long as they did not stray from their traditional route or incorporate male demonstrators, and it may be a deliberate tactic to provoke a reaction and draw attention.</p>
<p>Activists and supporters contend they should be free to demonstrate wherever and in whatever company they choose, and lament that U.S.-Cuba detente has not changed their inability to do so.</p>
<p>"The fact that the Obama administration would agree to begin this political process without a clear mandate on matters like the promotion of democracy and human rights has allowed the regime to gain legitimacy," said Antonio Rodiles, head of a pro-democracy group called Estado de SATS.</p>
<p>Rodiles' claim that his nose was broken during a recent arrest prompted an expression of concern from the U.S. State Department.</p>
<p>Despite such incidents, even some of Rodiles' fellow long-time dissidents say the new U.S. policy is correct.</p>
<p>"I think they are talking with the people they need to talk to, that is, the Cuban government," Sanchez said. "We are not the ones they need to convince; it is the government that must be persuaded."</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Andrea Rodriguez on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP">www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP</a></p>
<p>Peter Orsi on Twitter: <a href="http://www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi">www.twitter.com/Peter_Orsi</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/us-politicians-are-now-ignoring-the-cuban-dissidents-they-once-courted-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/song-made-using-coins-drummer-music-video-2015-7">This drummer created a whole song by only using the sound of coins</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/american-poll-results-on-cuba-and-iran-2015-7Americans feel the exact opposite about Iran as they do about Cubahttp://www.businessinsider.com/american-poll-results-on-cuba-and-iran-2015-7
Tue, 21 Jul 2015 09:35:28 -0400Deb Riechmann and Emily Swanson
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5491bd6ceab8eab72a94f59a-1824-1368/obama-cuba-speech-1.jpg" alt="obama cuba speech" data-mce-source="WhiteHouse.gov" data-mce-caption="President Barack Obama discussing US policy towards Cuba at the White House on December 17, 2014." /></p><p>WASHINGTON (AP) &mdash; Nearly three-fourths of Americans think the United States should have diplomatic ties with Cuba, but they're not sure how far to go in lifting sanctions, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Monday as full diplomatic relations between the two countries were formally restored.</p>
<p>"Relations between Cuba and the U.S. I think are long overdue. There's no threat there," said Alex Bega, 30, of Los Angeles. "I think the sanctions we have on them are pretty much obsolete."</p>
<p>The resumption of normal ties ended decades of acrimony between the two nations that was hardened when President John F. Kennedy and Cuba's Fidel Castro fought over Soviet expansion in the Americas.</p>
<p>The new diplomatic status, however, does not erase lingering disputes, such as mutual claims for economic reparations, Havana's desire to end a more than 50-year-old trade embargo and the U.S. push for Cuba to improve human rights and democracy.</p>
<p>The new poll also found that 58 percent of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the U.S. relationship with Havana while 40 disapprove. By contrast, only 39 percent approve of his handling of the U.S. role in world affairs more generally, while 59 percent disapprove.</p>
<p>"I just disapprove of his politics in general," said Julie Smith, 40, a university administrator from Bowling Green, Kentucky. "I just don't think that us trying to improve relations with Cuba is beneficial to the United States."</p>
<p>Respondents were split on what to do about the sanctions on Cuba. Forty-eight percent thought they should be decreased or eliminated entirely while 47 percent favored keeping them at their current level or increasing them. Five percent didn't answer.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/559d0672eab8ea2a34eccddf-1195-598/tyler-havana-cuba.jpg" alt="tyler havana cuba" data-mce-source="Tyler Greenfield/Business Insider" /></p>
<p>The story was different when it came to Iran.</p>
<p>Seventy-seven percent said they thought sanctions on Tehran should be kept where they are or increased, according to the poll, which was conducted just days before the U.S. signed an agreement to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief. Under the agreement, Iran's nuclear program will be curbed for a decade in exchange for potentially hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of relief from international sanctions.</p>
<p>Mary Barry, 57, of Arlington, Texas, is happy that the Obama administration opened diplomatic efforts with both Cuba and Iran, but is wary about lifting sanctions on the two countries.</p>
<p>"I think we need to have diplomatic relations with Iran and monitor their nuclear weapon," said Berry, who works producing and staging corporate business meetings. But, she said: "I think we need to keep the sanctions in place on Iran to make sure they're doing what they've promised they're going to do because I think Iran is a country that you can't really trust."</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55a6eb3a371d22472c8b49d1-2200-1467/rtxtui4.jpg" alt="Iran nuclear" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Mehr News Agency/Majid Asgaripour" data-mce-caption="Iranian workers stand in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, about 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran October 26, 2010." /></p>
<p>On Cuba, she thinks it's "just time" to restore diplomatic relations. But she favors a gradual lifting of sanctions on Cuba. "I don't think they should be lifted immediately," she said.</p>
<p>There is some momentum in Congress, however, to lift the trade embargo.</p>
<p>Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., backs a bipartisan bill in the Senate to lift the embargo, which she said must be done for the U.S. to avoid losing investment opportunities that will come with loosening of travel restrictions to the island.</p>
<p>"Once millions of American tourists are going, they will need places to stay and they will need food to eat. ... So when they come, they are going to be starting to sleep in Spanish hotels and eat German foods because those countries will be able to supply what they need in the tourism industry, not to mention the computers and Wi-Fi and everything else," Klobuchar said in an interview.</p>
<p>She predicted the legislation, which has 20 co-sponsors so far, would pass, although maybe not this year. "I know there are some people who have long been opposed to this," she said.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55ae42c6371d2279018b80d2-800-1011/apeasy.jpg" alt="apeasy" data-mce-source="AP Images" /></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-of-the-new-cuban-embassy-in-dc" >Take a look inside the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., which is opening today for the first time in 54 years</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/american-poll-results-on-cuba-and-iran-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-supermarket-grocery-store-pringles-lays-2015-7">We snuck a camera inside a Cuban supermarket</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-of-the-new-cuban-embassy-in-dcTake a look inside the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., which is opening today for the first time in 54 yearshttp://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-of-the-new-cuban-embassy-in-dc
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 12:35:01 -0400Jennifer Polland
<p>After more than five decades of cold relations, the US and Cuba have re<span>stored full diplomatic relations.</span></p>
<p><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-and-the-us-just-did-something-they-havent-done-in-54-years-2015-7">July 20 marks the opening of the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C.</a>, for the first time in 54 years.</span></p>
<p>Cuba's embassy is located in an elegant mansion on 16th Street in the US capital.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0c47371d222e008b7c2e-4608-3456/ap_514011235225.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>With gilded moldings, columns, arches, and statues, the building feels very grand inside.<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0c57371d2211008b7c72-4503-3377/ap_294264692747.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>There are&nbsp;elegant stained glass windows.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0af1371d2254008b7bc0-4574-3431/ap_630974925616.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>And grand marble balconies.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55ad1db5371d2215008b7d56-4608-3456/ap_441645477655.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>It will begin&nbsp;functioning as an embassy today.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0be82acae78a008b810c-4298-3224/ap_968759859666.jpg" alt="cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" />Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez was on hand to raise the Cuban flag over the new embassy.<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55ad1f1a371d2279018b7c88-4608-3456/ap_176496662136.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>This is the first time that the Cuban flag has been raised in Washington, D.C., since 1961.</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55ad204b2acae7a6098b7ee6-4608-3456/ap_202957373068.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>A large crowd gathered outside the embassy.</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55ad1ea4371d222e008b7d2f-3949-2962/ap_175989969247.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" /></p>
<p>Most signs outside the embassy seem to welcome the return of Cuba in the US.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0ce4371d2215008b7c5c-4285-3214/ap_327628944178.jpg" alt="Cuban embassy in DC" data-mce-source="AP Photo" />&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-reporters-traveled-to-cuba-2015-6" >We sent 3 reporters to Cuba for a week, and it was a wild adventure from the moment they arrived</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-of-the-new-cuban-embassy-in-dc#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/time-lapse-container-ship-baltic-sea-2015-7">Incredible time-lapse of a container ship cruising in the Baltic Sea</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/cuban-flag-raised-us-state-department-embassy-2015-7Watch the historic moment when the US raised the Cuban flag in the State Departmenthttp://www.businessinsider.com/cuban-flag-raised-us-state-department-embassy-2015-7
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 11:54:57 -0400Pamela Engel
<p>As the US and Cuba have officially resumed full diplomatic relations, the State Department marked the occasion by raising the country's flag in the lobby of its offices.</p>
<p>The flag went up "without ceremony in the predawn hours," <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-and-the-us-just-did-something-they-havent-done-in-54-years-2015-7">according to</a> the Associated Press.</p>
<p>The government's Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System released a video of a maintenance staffer raising the flag:</p>
<p><iframe width="500" height="300" frameborder="0" src="https://www.dvidshub.net/video/embed/415693"></iframe></p>
<p>Here's the moment it went up:</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55ad0ee32acae76e098b6a5f-481-269/cuba flag.gif" alt="Cuba flag" data-mce-source="Defense Video and Imagery Distribution System" data-link="https://www.dvidshub.net/video/415693/hanging-cuban-flag#.Va0OTCpVhHz" /></p>
<p>This is one step toward normalizing relations with the communist country after more than 50 years of restrictions.</p>
<p>Officials have also raised the flag at the Cuban embassy in DC:</p>
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<p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a href="https://instagram.com/p/5XKWGouAxQ/" target="_top">#Cuba occupied embassy in DC since 1917 - first on this stretch of embassy row! Today after 54 years, #flag flies again</a></p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A photo posted by Jon Williams (@foreigneditor) on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2015-07-20T14:49:25+00:00">Jul 20, 2015 at 7:49am PDT</time></p>
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<p>The flag is the same one that was taken down 54 years ago, <a href="https://twitter.com/williamsjon/status/623146061515915264">according to</a> ABC News Foreign Editor Jon Williams. Cuba Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the flag was kept safe in Florida knowing this day would come.</p>
<p>Secretary of State John Kerry <a href="https://twitter.com/williamsjon/status/623141706083495936">will travel to Havana next month</a> to formally open the US embassy there.&nbsp;<span> The&nbsp;US&nbsp;Interests Section in Cuba&nbsp;became US Embassy Havana on Monday, the State Department said.</span></p>
<p>The US and Cuba severed ties in 1961 in the heat of the Cold War.</p>
<p>Since relations between the two countries thawed, travel restrictions have been loosened and US Agency for International Development contractor Alan Gross was released from Cuban prison. The US also took Cuba off its list of state sponsors of terrorism.</p>
<p>July 20 was the established date for resuming full diplomatic ties.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuban-flag-raised-us-state-department-embassy-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/facts-about-donald-trump-politics-republican-presidential-candidate-business-2015-7">Donald Trump's most surprising failures and successes</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-tourism-americans-problems-2015-64 things everyone should know before traveling to Cubahttp://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-tourism-americans-problems-2015-6
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 09:59:00 -0400Graham Flanagan
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-tourism-americans-problems-2015-6"><strong>Click for the story &gt;</strong></a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-tourism-americans-problems-2015-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-and-the-us-just-did-something-they-havent-done-in-54-years-2015-7Cuba and the US just did something they haven't done in 54 yearshttp://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-and-the-us-just-did-something-they-havent-done-in-54-years-2015-7
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 07:12:22 -0400MATTHEW LEE and Peter Orsi
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55acd600371d2254008b7ac2-4651-3101/ap_726946052423.jpg" alt="cuba us" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="A U.S. Postal Service worker unloads packages in front of the Cuban Interests Section, which serves as the de facto diplomatic mission of Cuba to the United States, Wednesday, July 1, 2015 in Washington." /></p><p>The United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations Monday after more than five decades of frosty relations rooted in the Cold War.</p>
<p>The new era began with little fanfare when an agreement between the two nations to resume normal ties on July 20 came into force just after midnight Sunday and the diplomatic missions of each country were upgraded from interests sections to embassies.</p>
<p>When clocks struck 12:00 in Washington and Havana, they tolled a knell for policy approaches spawned and hardened over the five decades since President John F. Kennedy first tangled with youthful revolutionary Fidel Castro over Soviet expansion in the Americas.</p>
<p>Without ceremony in the predawn hours, maintenance hung the Cuban flag in the lobby of the State Department alongside those of other nations with which the US has diplomatic relations.</p>
<p>The historic shift will be publicly memorialized later Monday when Cuban officials formally inaugurate their embassy in Washington and Cuba's blue, red, and white-starred flag will fly for the first time since the countries severed ties in 1961. Secretary of State John Kerry will then meet his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, and address reporters at a joint news conference.</p>
<p>The US Interests Section in Havana plans to announce its upgrade to embassy status in a written statement on Monday, but the Stars and Stripes will not fly at the mission until Kerry visits in August for a ceremonial flag-raising.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55acd66f2acae700448b56de-5777-3944/ap_337979707656.jpg" alt="cuba us embassy" data-mce-source="AP" data-mce-caption="A Cuban flag flies among empty flag polls near the U.S. Interests Section building, behind, in Havana, Sunday, July 19, 2015." />And yet, though normalization has taken center stage in the US-Cuba relationship, there remains a deep ideological gulf between the nations and many issues still to resolve. Among them: thorny disputes such as over mutual claims for economic reparations, Havana's insistence on the end of the 53-year-old trade embargo and US calls for Cuba to improve on human rights and democracy.</p>
<p>Some US lawmakers, including several prominent Republican presidential candidates, have vowed not to repeal the embargo and pledged to roll back Obama's moves on Cuba.</p>
<p>Still, Monday's events cap a remarkable change of course in US policy toward the communist island under President Barack Obama, who had sought rapprochement with Cuba since he first took office and has progressively loosened restrictions on travel and remittances to the island.</p>
<p>Obama's efforts at engagement were frustrated for years by Cuba's imprisonment of US Agency for International Development contractor Alan Gross on espionage charges. But months of secret negotiations led in December to Gross's release, along with a number of political prisoners in Cuba and the remaining members of a Cuban spy ring jailed in the US. On December 17, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced they would resume full diplomatic relations.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/557b80ee69bedd922a8d138e-1536-1119/rtr4wvku.jpg" alt="President Obama and Raul Castro" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Peru Presidency" data-mce-caption="Cuba's President Raul Castro (L) stands with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama before the inauguration of the VII Summit of the Americas in Panama City April 10, 2015. " />Declaring the longstanding policy a failure that had not achieved any of its intended results, Obama declared that the US could not keep doing the same thing and expect a change. Thus, he said work would begin apace on normalization.</p>
<p>That process dragged on until the US removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism in late May and then bogged down over issues of US diplomats' access to ordinary Cubans.</p>
<p>On July 1, however, the issues were resolved and the US and Cuba exchanged diplomatic notes agreeing that the date for the restoration of full relations would be July 20.</p>
<p>"It's a historic moment," longtime Cuban diplomat and analyst Carlos Alzugaray said.</p>
<p>"The significance of opening the embassies is that trust and respect that you can see, both sides treating the other with trust and respect," he said. "That doesn't mean there aren't going to be conflicts &mdash; there are bound to be conflicts &mdash; but the way that you treat the conflict has completely changed."</p>
<p>Cuba's ceremony at the stately 16th Street mansion in Washington that has been operating as an interests section under the auspices of the Swiss embassy will be attended by some 500 guests, including a 30-member delegation of diplomatic, cultural, and other leaders from the Caribbean nation, headed by Foreign Minister Rodriguez.</p>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55acd9ca2acae719008b7e9b-980-663/1437267990_986007_1437329546_album_normal.jpg" alt="cuba us embassy" data-mce-source="US National Archive" data-mce-caption="The US embassy in Havana, Cuba." />The US will be represented at the event by Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson, who led US negotiators in six months of talks leading to the July 1 announcement, and Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the chief of the US Interests Section in Havana who will now become charge d'affaires.</p>
<p>Though the Interests Section in Havana won't see the pomp and circumstance of a flag-raising on Monday, workers there have already drilled holes on the exterior to hang signage flown in from the US, and arranged to print new business cards and letterhead that say "Embassy" instead of "Interests Section." What for years was a lonely flagpole outside the glassy six-story edifice on Havana's seafront Malecon boulevard recently got a rehab, complete with a paved walkway.</p>
<p>Every day for the past week, employees have been hanging hand-lettered signs on the fence counting down, in Spanish, to Monday: "In six days we will become an embassy!" and so on.</p>
<p>Both interests sections have technically operated as part of Switzerland's embassies in Washington and Havana. The Swiss also were caretakers for the former American Embassy and ambassador's residence from 1961 to 1977, when the US had no diplomatic presence in the country at all.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-and-the-us-just-did-something-they-havent-done-in-54-years-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-cuba-quietly-open-historic-new-chapter-in-post-cold-war-ties-2015-7The US and Cuba have formally restored full diplomatic tieshttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-cuba-quietly-open-historic-new-chapter-in-post-cold-war-ties-2015-7
Mon, 20 Jul 2015 02:35:00 -0400Matt Spetalnick
<p><img style="float:right;" src="/image/55ac78265afbd3630d8b4567-450-300/us-cuba-quietly-open-historic-new-chapter-in-post-cold-war-ties-2015-7.jpg" alt="A tricycle taxi with a U.S. flag is parked on a street in Havana July 19, 2015.
REUTERS/Stringer" border="0" /></p><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Cuba quietly ushered in a new era of post-Cold War relations on Monday, formally restoring diplomatic ties severed more than five decades ago and re-establishing embassies in each other&rsquo;s capitals.</p>
<p>Just past the stroke of midnight, the two countries reached a new milestone in the historic thaw that began with a breakthrough announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on Dec. 17.</p>
<p>Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez will preside around 10:30 a.m. over the raising of the Cuban flag for the first time in 54 years over a mansion that will again serve as Havana&rsquo;s embassy in Washington.</p>
<p>The hugely symbolic event will be followed by a meeting at the State Department between Secretary of State John Kerry and Rodriguez, the first Cuban foreign minister on an official visit to Washington since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.</p>
<p>While the Cubans hold their ceremony, the U.S. Embassy in Havana will also reopen. But no American flag will fly there until a visit by Kerry expected next month. &ldquo;We wanted the secretary to be there to oversee these important events,&rdquo; a State Department official said.</p>
<p>Differences remain and efforts toward full normalization between the United States and the Communist-ruled island are expected to proceed slowly. Monday's steps culminated more than two years of negotiations between governments that had long shunned each other.</p>
<p>More than 500 people will attend the Cubans&rsquo; festivities in Washington, including members of Congress. No invitations went out to hardline anti-Castro lawmakers. The U.S. delegation will be headed by Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson.</p>
<p>Kerry and Rodriguez last met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where Obama and Castro also held talks. Aides see the outreach to Cuba as a boost to Obama's legacy.</p>
<p>The re-establishment of embassies, agreed to on July 1, opens a new chapter of engagement by easing government contacts heavily constrained since the United States broke off relations in 1961.</p>
<p>A full-service U.S. mission in Havana could offer some reassurance to companies interested in investing in Cuba and also help seed the way for more &mdash; although still heavily restricted &mdash; travel to the island by American citizens.</p>
<p>The normalization process has been slowed by lingering disputes, including over human rights, as well as Havana's desire to keep a tight rein on its society and state-run economy.</p>
<p>A U.S. economic embargo against Cuba will remain in place, and only Congress can lift it.</p>
<p>Even so, before dawn on Monday, the State Department planned to hang a Cuban flag in its lobby among the banners of other countries with which Washington has relations.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter Cooney and Howard Goller)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-cuba-quietly-open-historic-new-chapter-in-post-cold-war-ties-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/10-facts-about-cubas-economy-2015-710 fascinating economic facts about Cubahttp://www.businessinsider.com/10-facts-about-cubas-economy-2015-7
Sat, 18 Jul 2015 10:11:20 -0400Fred Dews
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5491bd6ceab8eab72a94f59a-1824-1368/obama-cuba-speech-1.jpg" alt="obama cuba speech" data-mce-source="WhiteHouse.gov" data-mce-caption="President Barack Obama discussing US policy towards Cuba at the White House on December 17, 2014." /></p><p>On the heels of the announcement of the restoration of U.S.-Cuban diplomatic relations on July 20, Cuba&rsquo;s removal from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list, and the re-opening of embassies in the two countries, we mined the considerably large trove of recent Brookings content to find some of the most interesting facts about Cuba.</p>
<h3>1. Cuba receives almost 100,000 barrels of oil a day from Venezuela.</h3>
<p>The easing of diplomatic hostilities between the United States and Cuba may work to lessen Cuban dependence on the Venezuelan regime, <a name="&amp;lid={05EED633-90E3-4E4D-BA6A-4A4BD226F2EE}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/04/us-cuba-normalizations-piccone">Ted Piccone notes</a>. Russian President Vladimir Putin also recently wrote off $32 billion, 90 percent of the debt Cuba owed dating back to the Soviet era.</p>
<h3>2. The aggregated gross national income per capita of Cuba is officially $5,539, but the take home salary for most Cubans is around $20 a month.</h3>
<p>While there is little publicly available data regarding individual incomes, <a name="&amp;lid={B1F6469D-B69A-4156-BCD0-50282A7A3660}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/11/cuba-entrepreneurs-middle-classes-feinberg">Richard Feinberg concludes</a>, using a variety of indicators, that 40 percent of the Cuban labor force falls within a broadly defined middle class, though consumption remains depressed due to low government wages.</p>
<h3>3. Less than five percent of Cubans have access to the Internet.</h3>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55038534ecad04e2368b456a-5562-3672/cuba-internet-1.jpg" alt="cuba internet" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Desmond Boylan" data-mce-caption="People use a free Wi-Fi network at a center run by famed artist Kcho, in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, March 11, 2015." />While demand is increasing for American cultural and telecommunications products, companies like Netflix and Google are working on long-term plans to find their way into the country&rsquo;s economy.</p>
<p>The first step in this process came in early February, <a name="&amp;lid={364E65E9-6C8A-437F-A7EF-77FDF7A30D0E}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/techtank/posts/2015/02/11-cuba-netflix-america">according to Darrell West</a>, when Netflix announced it would begin streaming in the island nation.</p>
<h3>4. The Cuban government authorizes only 201 different categories of activities for self-employment.</h3>
<p>This creates a problem in forging economic ties, <a name="&amp;lid={8EB6F9C5-BECC-4FA7-8E2E-37A6224C76BB}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/opinions/2015/02/19-us-trade-approach-to-cuba-piccone">Ted Piccone writes</a>, since &ldquo;U.S. importers can only engage in transactions with independent Cuban entrepreneurs&rdquo; while Cuba fails to expand the list, excluding &ldquo;huge swaths of Cuba&rsquo;s human capital&rdquo; from trade with the U.S.</p>
<h3>5. More than two-thirds of the 2 million Cubans and Cuban-Americans in the United States live in Florida; 18 percent of Miami residents identify as Cuban.</h3>
<p><strong><a name="&amp;lid={DDA4A9C5-EFB8-4149-9BE2-94424783F24D}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2015/01/23-us-cuba-migration-singer-svajlenka"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5554abdb6bb3f7fa01ea370e-2048-1152/16887689481_576caf6957_k.jpg" alt="miami" data-mce-source="Flickr / Eustaquio Santimano" data-link="https://www.flickr.com/photos/eustaquio/16887689481/" /></a></strong><a name="&amp;lid={DDA4A9C5-EFB8-4149-9BE2-94424783F24D}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2015/01/23-us-cuba-migration-singer-svajlenka">Audrey Singer explains</a> how these demographic distributions play a key role in normalizing relations with Cuba. Currently, a visa lottery system allows 20,000 Cubans to emigrate every year to the United States, while others try to make the trek by sea&mdash;the U.S. Coast Guard stopped 500 such potential immigrants in December 2014 alone. Thousands more cross the border where they can claim asylum and get expedited green card privileges.</p>
<h3>6. New Cuban hotspots can process 1 megabit per second, far below the average U.S. speed.</h3>
<p><a name="&amp;lid={85A5BFB0-16F3-4012-BE4A-79A94DFEE9AA}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/techtank/posts/2015/07/02-internet-access-cuba">Darrell West examines the growth of Internet access in Cuba</a>, noting that improved relations with the U.S. could relax restrictions on better IT equipment.</p>
<h3>7. The average age of the Cuban population will increase from 54.7 today to 67.7 in 2025.</h3>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/55a922662acae78a008b7a22-4001-3001/one of my faves.jpg" alt="havana cuba " data-mce-source="Tyler Greenfield/Business Insider" /></p>
<p><a name="&amp;lid={7EB51EA9-85F6-4CAC-BA76-0DCE0ABEFFF3}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2013/10/politicas-crecimiento-economico-cuba-cordovi-perez">Juan Triana Cordov&iacute; and Ricardo Torres P&eacute;rez note</a> that &ldquo;most growth in developing countries in the last 50 years has been the exact opposite, spurred by a growing youth population and workforce. Together, these elements coupled with the current economic model make setting Cuba on a sustainable long-term growth path an immense challenge.&rdquo;</p>
<h3>8. 90 percent of Cubans own their own homes.</h3>
<p>The high homeownership rate on the island is supported by President Ra&uacute;l Castro&rsquo;s economic reform agenda, which attempts to &ldquo;preserve socialism while introducing new forms of market-based mechanisms,&rdquo; <a name="&amp;lid={48BEF300-7DF9-46ED-BBBA-A0A9A2103A2F}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2014/12/22-on-cuba-obama-goes-long-piccone">writes Ted Piccone</a>. In addition to the ability to buy and sell property, Cuban citizens can now open small businesses, have cell phones, and form cooperatives both on and off of farms.</p>
<h3>9. Americans are able to bring back $400 worth of goods from Cuba&mdash;including $100 in cigars and rum.</h3>
<p><a name="&amp;lid={514DF7CE-452B-487E-B89B-97D65494772E}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2014/12/22-diplomatic-shock-and-awe-obama-elates-cubans-feinberg"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55886d1aecad04293e5310fb-3264-2448/cigars-3.jpg" alt="cigars tyler graham cuba havana" data-mce-source="Amanda Macias/Business Insider" />Richard Feinberg reacts</a> to the increasingly open ties between the United States and Cuba and discusses the implications for citizens in both counties.</p>
<h3>10. 68 percent of Cuban-Americans favor normalized relations between Cuba and the U.S.</h3>
<p><a name="&amp;lid={6FE2F624-B187-4AF1-A570-74102361B4F4}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2014/12/18-cuba-effect-north-korea-moon">Katharine Moon also points</a><a name="&amp;lid={6FE2F624-B187-4AF1-A570-74102361B4F4}&amp;lpos=loc:body" href="http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2014/12/18-cuba-effect-north-korea-moon"> out</a> that 90 percent of younger Cuban-Americans favor normalization.</p>
<p>The divergence between older hardliners and a conciliatory new generation is key in approaching other diplomatic challenges, such as re-evaluating relations with North Korea, she says.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-ordinary-life-in-havana-2015-7" >27 gorgeous photos of ordinary life in Havana</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/10-facts-about-cubas-economy-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-classic-american-cars-2015-7">This bright red 1955 Chevy Bel Air is the coolest car we saw in Havana </a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ernest-hemingway-havana-cuba-bar-crawl-2015-7We stopped by all of Ernest Hemingway's favorite bars in Havana, and they haven't changed a bithttp://www.businessinsider.com/ernest-hemingway-havana-cuba-bar-crawl-2015-7
Fri, 17 Jul 2015 13:56:23 -0400Graham Flanagan
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<p>Business Insider recently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-reporters-traveled-to-cuba-2015-6" target="_blank">sent</a> three reporters to Havana, Cuba to experience the city as tourists. One of the city's most famous American residents was legendary author Ernest Hemingway, who lived there off and on for almost twenty years. Hemingway's house, known as <a href="http://www.hemingwaycuba.com/hemingway-house-cuba.html">Finca Vigía</a>, is located about 15 miles outside of Havana and is currently preserved as a museum that is open to the public. <br><br>Many Havana bars claim to have been destinations for Hemingway during his Cuban hey-day. We visited three establishments where the author imbibed his favorite cocktails. <br><br>We'll have lots of stories about our adventures on the island, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/business-insider-goes-to-cuba" target="_blank">which you'll be able to find here</a>. <br><br><em>Produced by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/graham-flanagan" target="_blank">Graham Flanagan</a>. Additional camera by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/amanda-macias" target="_blank">Amanda Macias</a> and Tyler Greenfield.</em><br><br><strong>Follow BI Video: </strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video?ref=br_tf" target="_blank">On Facebook</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ernest-hemingway-havana-cuba-bar-crawl-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-cuba-says-not-convinced-us-has-given-up-regime-change-policy-2015-7Cuba is still not convinced the US won't try to bring down the Communist Partyhttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-cuba-says-not-convinced-us-has-given-up-regime-change-policy-2015-7
Thu, 16 Jul 2015 22:19:00 -0400Daniel Trotta
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55a83fac5afbd37d4a8b4567-450-300/cuba-says-not-convinced-us-has-given-up-regime-change-policy-2015-7.jpg" alt="Children play soccer in front of graffiti depicting Cuba's national flag, in Havana July 15, 2015. REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa " border="0" /></p><p>HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba remains unconvinced the United States has stopped trying to remove the Communist Party from power despite a public pledge from President Barack Obama disowning "regime change," a Cuban foreign ministry official said on Thursday.</p>
<p>With the two longtime adversaries set to restore diplomatic relations on Monday after a 54-year break, Cuba said the United States would need to abandon its policy of regime change in order to improve overall ties.</p>
<p>At the Summit of the Americas in Panama where Obama met face-to-face with Cuban President Raul Castro in April, the American president told a news conference: "On Cuba, we are not in the business of regime change."</p>
<p>That signaled a break from U.S. efforts to overthrow or destabilize the Cuban government since Fidel Castro's rebels came to power in a 1959 revolution. Fidel Castro, 88, retired in 2008 when his brother Raul, 84, took over.</p>
<p>"You have to appreciate the words of the president ... but you have to see what happens in practice," Gustavo Machin, deputy director for U.S. affairs in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, told reporters.</p>
<p>"We haven't seen anything" suggesting practical change, he said.</p>
<p>Machin cited multimillion-dollar annual budgets for what are commonly called the Cuban democracy programs, which Cuba sees as hostile efforts to undermine its government and socialist political system.</p>
<p>The 2016 U.S. State Department budget request includes $20 million for such programs to aid victims of political repression, support civil society and promote free speech.</p>
<p>"We recognize the statement by the president, but you have to see the practical impact of what happens, don't you?" Machin said.</p>
<p>Diplomatic relations will be restored on Monday when the so-called interests sections in Washington and Havana will be upgraded to embassies.</p>
<p>Cuba will hold a ceremony in Washington with some 500 guests and a delegation led by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, who will become the first foreign minister to travel to the United States on an official visit since the 1959 revolution, Machin said.</p>
<p>The United States has yet to set a date for Secretary of State John Kerry to visit Havana and raise the U.S. flag.</p>
<p>After embassies open, the two sides have pledged to begin a lengthy and complicated attempt to normalize overall relations, which today are impeded by matters such as the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba and U.S. control of the Guantanamo Bay naval base in eastern Cuba.</p>
<p>(Editing by Ken Wills)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-cuba-says-not-convinced-us-has-given-up-regime-change-policy-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-castro-sees-cuba-us-breaking-with-past-coexisting-in-peace-2015-7RAUL CASTRO: Cuba is ready to peacefully coexist with the United Stateshttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-castro-sees-cuba-us-breaking-with-past-coexisting-in-peace-2015-7
Wed, 15 Jul 2015 20:46:00 -0400Daniel Trotta
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/55a6c6595afbd3e5758b4567-450-300/castro-sees-cuba-us-breaking-with-past-coexisting-in-peace-2015-7.jpg" alt="Cuba's President Raul Castro attends a ceremony at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana May 19, 2015. REUTERS/Enrique de la Osa" border="0" /></p><p>HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba is prepared to break with the contentious past and peacefully coexist with the United States, Cuban President Raul Castro said on Wednesday as the two former adversaries are set to restore diplomatic ties.</p>
<p>"We are talking about forging a new kind of relationship between both states, different from our entire common history," Castro, 84, told the Cuban National Assembly, according to official media.</p>
<p>Cuba and the United States will re-establish diplomatic relations on Monday after a 54-year break and reopen embassies in each other's capitals.</p>
<p>The United States and Cuba began secret negotiations on restoring ties in mid-2013, leading to the historic announcement on Dec. 17, 2014, when Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama said they had swapped prisoners and would seek to normalize relations.</p>
<p>The previous deep freeze in U.S.-Cuba ties dated to Jan. 1, 1959, when rebels led by brothers Fidel and Raul Castro toppled the U.S.-backed government of Fulgencio Batista. The Castros halted the longtime U.S.-friendly business climate in Cuba and drew ever closer to the Soviet Union.</p>
<p>That led to a troubled history including a failed U.S.-organized invasion of Cuba by a force of exiles in 1961 and a thrust to the brink of nuclear war in 1962 over Soviet missiles stationed in Cuba.</p>
<p>With diplomatic ties restored, the two countries separated by 90 miles (145 km) of sea will now begin the more difficult and lengthy task of normalizing overall relations.</p>
<p>"The revolutionary government is willing to advance toward the normalization of relations, convinced that both countries can cooperate and coexist in a civilized, mutually beneficial way, while contributing to peace, security, stability and development," Castro said.</p>
<p>Since taking over as president for his ailing brother in 2008, Raul Castro, the longtime defense minister, has proven less bellicose toward America than his brother, now 88 and retired.</p>
<p>Castro said completely normal relations with the United States would be impossible as long as Washington maintains its economic embargo against the island.</p>
<p>"We hope that (Obama) continues to use his executive authority to dismantle this policy," Castro said.</p>
<p>Obama, a Democrat, has eased parts of the U.S. embargo but would need the Republican-controlled Congress to lift it completely.</p>
<p>Castro also said normalization would require the return to Cuban sovereignty of the U.S. naval base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay, although American officials have said Guantanamo is not a topic of discussion in talks with Cuba.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Christian Plumb)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-castro-sees-cuba-us-breaking-with-past-coexisting-in-peace-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-fidel-castro-88-makes-second-public-appearance-in-a-week-2015-7Fidel Castro just made his second public appearance in a weekhttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-fidel-castro-88-makes-second-public-appearance-in-a-week-2015-7
Sat, 11 Jul 2015 18:13:00 -0400Daniel Trotta
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/55a194e2eab8ea030c85ee6a-1200-924/fidel-castro-17.jpg" border="0" alt="Fidel Castro"></p><p>HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban President Fidel Castro, 88, made his second public appearance in a week on Thursday, meeting with military officers and civilians who were honored for their performance in food production, official media reported on Saturday.</p>
<p>Castro had met with 19 cheese makers on July 3 in a rare trip outside his Havana home.</p>
<p>That had been his first appearance in three months, and previously it had been more than a year since official media reported him participating in an event outside his residence.</p>
<p>Published photos showed him seated with more than a dozen honorees standing behind him in an undisclosed location.</p>
<p>Castro stepped down due to illness provisionally in 2006 and definitively in 2008, handing over to his brother Raul, 84. Fidel writes an occasional newspaper column and receives dignitaries at home.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">(Editing by David Holmes)</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-ordinary-life-in-havana-2015-7?op=1#ixzz3fcjIwwyx" >27 gorgeous photos of ordinary life in Havana</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-fidel-castro-88-makes-second-public-appearance-in-a-week-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-sex-should-happy-relationship-rachel-sussman-2015-5">How much sex you should be having in a healthy relationship </a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-ordinary-life-in-havana-2015-727 gorgeous photos of ordinary life in Havanahttp://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-ordinary-life-in-havana-2015-7
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 16:41:00 -0400Amanda Macias, Tyler Greenfield and Graham Flanagan
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/559ec5d669bedd591334f54a-1200-800/while-walking-in-centro-habana-one-of-the-poorest-neighborhoods-in-havana-i-came-across-this-woman-sitting-behind-a-small-fruit-stand-i-asked-her-a-question-about-a-fruit-i-didnt-recognize-and-she-quietly-answered-without-looking-at-me-i-walked-away-.jpg" border="0" alt="amanda cuba havana "></p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">After more than five decades, the US and Cuba have&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-us-cuba-reach-deal-to-reopen-embassies-2015-7" target="_blank">formally agreed</a>&nbsp;to restore diplomatic relations later this month. While the stagnant island nation braces for change, Business Insider recently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-reporters-traveled-to-cuba-2015-6" target="_blank">sent</a>&nbsp;<span>three reporters</span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;to Havana to experience the surreal time warp of this tropical nation.</span></p>
<p><span>We'll have lots of stories about our adventures on the island,&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/business-insider-goes-to-cuba">which you'll be able to find here</a><span>.</span><span><br></span></p>
<p><span>Scroll down to see our favorite shots and the stories behind them.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-gorgeous-classic-cars-in-havana-2015-7" >The 18 most gorgeous classic cars we saw on the streets of Havana</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>SEE ALL OF OUR ADVENTURES:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/business-insider-goes-to-cuba" >Business Insider goes to Cuba</a></strong></p>
<h3>These two local women wearing traditional garb called out to us as we passed by on our way to Plaza Vieja. The 92-year-old woman on the left told us that she smokes everyday and her health is in excellent condition. They asked us for a few coins each after we took a few photos of them. </h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/559d663decad04853342a3bc-400-300/these-two-local-women-wearing-traditional-garb-called-out-to-us-as-we-passed-by-on-our-way-to-plaza-vieja-the-92-year-old-woman-on-the-left-told-us-that-she-smokes-everyday-and-her-health-is-in-excellent-condition-they-asked-us-for-a-few-coins-each-after-we-took-a-few-photos-of-them.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Until Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries took over the country in 1959, Cuba was once the top importer of North American-manufactured cars. The cars are commonly referred to as "yank tanks." We saw a man sleeping in the passenger seat of a "yank tank" outside of the second-largest church in Cuba, Iglesia de Jesús de Miramar. </h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/559d2c9069bedd7f43eccddb-400-300/until-fidel-castro-and-his-revolutionaries-took-over-the-country-in-1959-cuba-was-once-the-top-importer-of-north-american-manufactured-cars-the-cars-are-commonly-referred-to-as-yank-tanks-we-saw-a-man-sleeping-in-the-passenger-seat-of-a-yank-tank-outside-of-the-second-largest-church-in-cuba-iglesia-de-jess-de-miramar.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>For the next 50 years, owners of these "coches Americanos" would be forced to improvise repairs without access to replacement parts.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/559d79e9eab8ea524feccdda-400-300/for-the-next-50-years-owners-of-these-coches-americanos-would-be-forced-to-improvise-repairs-without-access-to-replacement-parts.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span><span>&nbsp;</span></span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-ordinary-life-in-havana-2015-7#while-walking-in-centro-habana-one-of-the-poorest-neighborhoods-in-havana-we-came-across-a-typical-farmers-market-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-loses-6-0-mexico-gold-cup-after-defection-2015-7Cuba loses 6-0 in the Gold Cup after one player defects and 6 more can't get into the countryhttp://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-loses-6-0-mexico-gold-cup-after-defection-2015-7
Fri, 10 Jul 2015 10:20:00 -0400Ari Gilberg
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/559fd2e4ecad04d42df7425e-1046-785/cuba-soccer-team.jpg" border="0" alt="Cuba soccer team"></p><p>Mexico routed Cuba 6-0 in their Gold Cup Group C opener Thursday in Chicago after Cuba was forced to play without seven players total, as well as their head coach.</p>
<p>Striker Keiler Garcia <a href="http://www.mlssoccer.com/goldcup/2015/news/article/2015/07/09/reports-player-defects-cuban-team-six-others-head-coach-wont-arrive-gold-cup">reportedly defected to the US</a> one day before the match, and six other regular players, along with head coach Raul Gonzalez Triana, weren't able to leave Antigua after their Olympic qualifier due to <a href="http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/09/cuba-down-to-16-players-for-gold-cup-as-another-defects-in-chicago/">problems with their visas</a>, according to ProSoccerTalk's Joe Prince-Wright.</p>
<p>Before the match, assistant coach Walter Benitez, who was coaching the team in place of Triana, told Prince-Wright <a href="http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/09/cuba-down-to-16-players-for-gold-cup-as-another-defects-in-chicago/">they'll still "manage,"</a> despite the frustrating situation.</p>
<p>"Now we have only 16 players because one has gone absent," Benitez said. "We don’t know where he is. The lad who went away was a first-choice player but we’ll manage. We came to play a tournament and we’re going to play it."</p>
<p>While Cuba attempted to manage the situation as best they could, Mexico took advantage of the undermanned team and dominated them in nearly every statistical way possible:</p>
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Mexico dominated Cuba, not because they won 6-0, the other stats says it all! <a href="http://t.co/jcyBDo4jGq">pic.twitter.com/jcyBDo4jGq</a> </p>— Andrew Alexander (@AndrewIsAPunk) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/619354628677709824">July 10, 2015</a>
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<p>The game was so one-sided that at one point Cuba goalie Disovelis Guerra could only stand still and watch as a beautiful header from Mexico midfielder Andrés Guardado sailed past him:</p>
<p><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/559fd087ecad04cc23f7425b/cuba%20loses%206-0.gif" border="0" alt="Cuba loses 6 0"></p>
<p class="embed-spacer">While Garcia has left the team permanently due to his defection to the US, <a href="http://www.espnfc.us/concacaf-gold-cup/story/2517408/cuba-without-7-players-and-manager-vs-mexico-in-gold-cup">team officials told ESPN</a> they expect Triana and the six other regular players stuck in Antigua to make it in time for their next match against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday. </p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cuba-loses-6-0-mexico-gold-cup-after-defection-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cristiano-ronaldo-ab-machine-ad-portugal-workout-japan-2015-7">Watch Cristiano Ronaldo star in a bizarre ad for his Japanese ab machine </a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-classic-american-cars-2015-7This bright red 1955 Chevy Bel Air is the coolest car we saw in Havana http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-classic-american-cars-2015-7
Wed, 08 Jul 2015 12:50:00 -0400Graham Flanagan
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<p>Business Insider recently <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/business-insider-reporters-traveled-to-cuba-2015-6" target="_blank">sent</a> three reporters to Havana, Cuba to experience the city as tourists. One thing you immediately experience walking the streets of Havana is the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-gorgeous-classic-cars-in-havana-2015-7" target="_blank">overwhelming presence</a> of classic, vintage American cars from the 1940s and 1950s.<br><br>When the United States embargo against Cuba was imposed in 1960, all imports from America ceased, forcing Cubans to make due with the American cars they had already imported. Since Cuba cannot import replacement parts for the cars, drivers and mechanics are forced to use parts shipped from countries with whom Cuba still trades. <br><br>Just stop on a Havana street corner for one minute and you're almost guaranteed to see a parade of beautiful, vintage American cars — often referred to as "Yank Tanks" — pass by.<br><br>We'll have lots of stories about our adventures on the island, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/business-insider-goes-to-cuba" target="_blank">which you'll be able to find here</a>. <br><br><em>Produced by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/graham-flanagan" target="_blank">Graham Flanagan</a>. Additional camera by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/amanda-macias" target="_blank">Amanda Macias</a> and Tyler Greenfield.</em><br><br><strong>Follow BI Video: </strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video?ref=br_tf" target="_blank">On Facebook</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-classic-american-cars-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-carnival-gets-us-approval-to-operate-cuba-cruises-2015-7Cruise ships are coming to Cubahttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-carnival-gets-us-approval-to-operate-cuba-cruises-2015-7
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 19:39:02 -0400David Adams
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/559c62b16bb3f7bc53d32639-1200-924/carnival-fascination-cruise-ship-in-2011-3.jpg" border="0" alt="Carnival Fascination cruise ship in 2011" style="color: #000000;">MIAMI (Reuters) - Carnival Corp &nbsp;has won U.S. approval to operate culturally-themed cruises to Cuba and plans to start taking travelers there next May, joining a growing list of maritime companies hoping to profit from a thaw in relations between Washington and Havana.</span></p>
<p>The United States and Cuba have been working for months to improve relations after more than five decades of animosity that led to a trade embargo against the communist-led country.</p>
<p>The countries formally agreed last week to restore diplomatic relations on July 20.</p>
<p>Miami-based Carnival, the world's largest cruise operator, said it was still in talks with Cuba for approval to start specialized humanitarian and cultural visits there that fall within U.S. embargo guidelines.</p>
<p>Americans are still banned from going to Cuba as tourists but are allowed to go for a dozen approved motives such as visiting family or participating in academic, professional, religious or educational programs.</p>
<p>Despite the ongoing restrictions, the news was welcomed by the travel industry.</p>
<p>"A lot of Americans want to visit Cuba and this is one of the first real mass ways to get to Cuba," said Brad Tolkin, chief executive of World Travel Holdings, a major booker of cruises.</p>
<p>Cuba currently doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle an influx of American visitors so docking at a port would alleviate pressure on hotel accommodations, he added.</p>
<p>Carnival is the first major U.S.-based cruise ship company to venture into Cuban waters. Two other Miami-based companies, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, have expressed interest but say the U.S. embargo remains an obstacle.</p>
<p>Frank Del Rio, the Cuban-born president and chief executive officer of Norwegian, said Carnival's move took the island one step closer toward an overall easing of leisure travel</p>
<p>"I extend my congratulations and best wishes to Carnival for pioneering this critical first step," he said, adding he hoped it would help ease U.S. leisure travel restrictions on Cuba.</p>
<p>Swiss company MSC Cruises last week became the first cruise line to base a ship in Cuba, announcing that the 2,120-passenger MSC Opera will take up winter residence in Havana from December to April, in partnership with a Cuban state-owned travel firm.</p>
<p>In May, the U.S. Treasury Department approved several licenses for passenger ferry services between the United States and Cuba.</p>
<p>Such services were cut off in the 1960s, following the Cuban revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.</p>
<p>Last week, the Treasury Department issued a license authorizing a Palm Beach luxury yacht company, Paul Madden Associates, to provide charter services to Cuba.</p>
<p>Carnival said its cruise license was approved by the Treasury Department and the U.S. Department of Commerce and would be launched in May under its new "fathom" brand, set up last month to run cruises with humanitarian and cultural themes to the Dominican Republic.</p>
<p>Carnival will use the 710-passenger vessel, the MV Adonia, for its Cuba cruises, on the small side for the company, whose ships typically carry 2,000 to 3,000 people.</p>
<p>Carnival said the cruises would focus on education, the environment and economic development and feature Spanish lessons and workshops on the country's heritage. There will be no casinos or stage shows.</p>
<p>The Cuba cruises will start at $2,990 per person excluding taxes and other fees. They will be more expensive than typical regional cruises because of visa costs, paperwork, and the fact that the U.S. rules require passengers on cruises to Cuba to spend at least eight hours a day on the ground and participating in academic, professional, religious or educational programs.</p>
<p>Carnival shares closed up 0.84 percent at $50.20 on the New York Stock Exchange.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>(Reporting by David Adams in Miami; Additional reporting by Ramkumar Iyer in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Plumb, Andrew Hay and Leslie Adler)</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/business-insider-goes-to-cuba" >Business Insider goes to Cuba</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-carnival-gets-us-approval-to-operate-cuba-cruises-2015-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/scientifically-ways-women-attractive-2015-5">6 scientifically proven features men find attractive in women</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-gorgeous-classic-cars-in-havana-2015-7The 18 most gorgeous classic cars we saw on the streets of Havanahttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-gorgeous-classic-cars-in-havana-2015-7
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 16:26:00 -0400Amanda Macias and Tyler Greenfield
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/559c28e369bedd4d47fc8f85-1200-800/the-owner-of-this-pristine-1955-chevy-bel-air-washes-his-car-three-to-four-times-a-week-and-immediately-after-it-rains-to-make-sure-the-paint-stays-in-excellent-condition.jpg" border="0" alt="tyler havana car"></p><p>Perhaps the strongest reminder of the hardened US-Cuban relationship is the 60,000 retrofitted metal relics clunking around the streets of the stagnant island nation.</p>
<p>Havana's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-classic-american-cars-2015-7" target="_blank">stunning&nbsp;1950s-era "coches Americanos"</a> — or "máquinas" —are often referred to&nbsp;as the "Galápagos of the car industry"&nbsp;since they have been meticulously preserved by their owners during the 55-year-long trade embargo.</p>
<p>Branded in Cuba's surreal time-warp image, these cars provide crucial income for locals while servicing the island's tourists. Here are a few of the most beautiful vintage cars we saw on our recent trip to Havana.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/business-insider-goes-to-cuba">You can read more about Business Insider's week in Cuba here</a>.</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/havana-cuba-classic-american-cars-2015-7" >We know everyone talks about this, but the cars in Cuba really are beautiful</a></strong></p>
<h3>In 1955, Cuba was the top importer of North American-manufactured cars, with nearly 125,000 Detroit-made automobiles bustling around the island nation.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/55942971371d22a10e8b539a-400-300/in-1955-cuba-was-the-top-importer-of-north-american-manufactured-cars-with-nearly-125000-detroit-made-automobiles-bustling-around-the-island-nation.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>That all changed in 1959, when Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries took over the country.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/55942368371d2277018b5552-400-300/that-all-changed-in-1959-when-fidel-castro-and-his-revolutionaries-took-over-the-country.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p class="p1"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>"The Cadillac does not provide jobs for anyone," Castro said during a speech to the Cuban people in July 1959. "The Cadillac does not increase the wealth of the country. It diminishes it."</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/55942365371d222e008b5586-400-300/the-cadillac-does-not-provide-jobs-for-anyone-castro-said-during-a-speech-to-the-cuban-people-in-july-1959-the-cadillac-does-not-increase-the-wealth-of-the-country-it-diminishes-it.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><em>Source: <a href="%20https://books.google.com/books?id=u-VRqkpThREC&amp;pg=PT448&amp;lpg=PT448&amp;dq=The+Cadillac+does+not+provide+jobs+for+anyone+castro&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=UOJEkuwYfl&amp;sig=xFSVfvaJceFXB9w8O4qQmASINaE&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=UayaVcTwIsP8-AGDw66gCg&amp;ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q=The%20Cadillac%20does%20not%20provide%20jobs%20for%20anyone%20castro&amp;f=false" target="_blank">On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, and Culture</a>.<br /></em></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-gorgeous-classic-cars-in-havana-2015-7#from-that-moment-forward-castro-halted-all-american-car-imports-and-imposed-strict-laws-on-cuban-car-owners-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a>